a novella by Codey

Billy sat on his sled at the bottom of the hill and watched
the other kids. Nearly all were here with parents or big brothers. He was cold
and he was tired. He’d only been at the hill for about a half hour but after
four or five trips down the hill and the long climb back to the top, he was
exhausted. He envied the other kids here with their parents and older siblings.
At least they had help getting back to the top.

Although he was nine years old, he was small for his age…more
the size of the six and seven year olds. His small stature had caused him to be
the butt of much teasing since he had first started school. This teasing had
caused the naturally shy boy to pull farther into himself. He now lived within a
shell he had constructed, a shell meant to shield him from the constant teasing
and bullying. This shell, unfortunately, had a hidden and insidious attribute
that the boy wasn’t aware of. Although only partially effective against the
teasing and bullying, it was extremely effective against the very people he
needed to let inside. With the exception of his family, he was friendless and
lonely.

He had a loving relationship with his parents, and around
them he could safely discard his shell. They had nearly resigned themselves to a
childless life together, but miracles still happen, and one day they brought
home a tiny baby boy whom they named William. Their lives centered on the boy
they called their miracle child. His size didn’t matter to them. He was their
son and their lives became the lives of new parents everywhere: sleepless nights
and dirty diapers…and they loved every minute of it.

Billy knew that his parents would love to be here with him
but, as this was a weekday, both had to work. Even though it was Christmas
vacation for him, his parents still had jobs to go to. Tonight was going to be a
big night for Billy though: a trip to the mall to see Santa and Billy knew just
what he was going to ask for. He wanted a big brother and Santa was just the
person to get him one.

Billy could feel the tears rolling down his cheeks as he
watched the other kids playing.

“Hey little guy, something wrong?”

Billy looked up into a pair of dark brown eyes, eyes such a
dark brown, they were almost black. The eyes belonged to a boy who looked to be
eleven or twelve years old.

“Okay Billy, let’s get this sled up the hill and show those
other kids how it’s done. You wanna ride up?”

“Yea!!”

“Well, hop on then, but watch out for the bumps.”

Billy knew if you hit a bump wrong coming down the hill, it
could cause you to wreck, but couldn’t see how, going up the hill, the bumps
could do anything.

“Why? What can the bumps do?”

The older boy turned and was walking backwards up the hill
while pulling Billy, “You’ll see!” he said, glancing over his shoulder, “Here
comes one now…hang on, here it is!”

He jerked up on the rope attached to the front of the sled,
lifting the front up, and Billy fell off the rear and rolled a few feet down the
hill before stopping. He came up spitting snow with a shocked look on his face.
“No fair!” he yelled, “That was a dirty trick!”

The older boy stood there with an innocent look and said,
“That was no trick, it was that bump. I warned you to hold on.” Then both boys
burst into laughter.

After they reached the top and were getting ready to start
down the hill on their first ride, Billy asked the other boy, “What’s your
name?”

The other boy started to say Bob but they started down the
steep part of the hill and it came out as “Boooooooob.”

The two played all afternoon and when they’d get tired of
sledding, they’d go find a place with clear snow, and Bob taught Billy how to
flop on his back, then wave his arms and feet and make snow angels. When Billy
started for the bathrooms on the other side of the park, Bob took him behind
some trees and showed him how to write his name in the snow. It was the most fun
afternoon Billy could ever remember having and he was actually a little
disappointed when he heard a horn honk and saw his family’s car pulling up.

“Come on!” he yelled to Bob. “I want you to meet my parents.”

Billy ran up and gave them both a hug and said, “This is my
friend Bob. We’ve been sledding and making snow angels and peed behind a tree!
Did you know you could write your name in the snow? Then we had a snowball fight
and we hit a bump and I fell off the sled but I held on the rest of the time and
didn’t fall off again….”

Both parents were laughing and one said, “Whoa, Tiger, slow
down. You can tell us all about it on the way home; sounds like you had a good
time this afternoon. Put your sled in the trunk and let’s get home. We’re eating
at the mall so you need to get cleaned up and changed.”

“Okay, Dad. Come on, Bob, help me lift this into the
trunk.”

As the boys were wrestling the sled into the trunk, Bob
whispered to Billy, “Are these really your parents?”

“Yea. Great, aren’t they?”

“Yea.” Bob answered, but to himself he was thinking
“Wow!!”

“Come on, Tiger, we need to get moving. Would your friend
like a ride home?”

“No thank you, sir.” Bob responded, “I live close and can
walk.”

“Okay Bob, it was nice meeting you and I hope you and Billy
can play together again some time.”

“Me too, sir. I had a lot of fun today too!”

As the big car drove away, Bob thought to himself, “I wish I
had a family.” Then he turned and started the long walk back to the group home
where he had been sent this time.

At the mall, Billy was so excited he could hardly eat.
Christmas had always been his favorite holiday and all the decorations and
displays in the mall had doubled his excitement. He was sure his parents would
never finish eating and kept glancing at them as they talked and ate. Finally
sensing their son’s impatience and realizing they would get no peace until they
saw the jolly old fat man, one said, “Okay Billy, it’s Santa time.”

“Yes!” he almost shouted and was out of his seat and through
the restaurant door in a flash. By the time they caught up with him, Billy was
already in the line to talk to Santa.

“Do you have your list Billy?”

“No…I don’t need one this year. I’m only asking for one
thing.”

When it was his turn to talk to Santa, Billy walked up and
climbed on his lap with no hesitation.

“Hello, young man, Merry Christmas.”

“Hi, Santa.”

“And what’s your name?”

“William Thornton, sir.”

“Well, young William, I bet they call you Bill or Billy,
don’t they?”

“Billy, sir.”

“What do you want for Christmas, Billy?”

“A brother.”

“A brother?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Don’t you want toys like the other kids?”

“No, sir…just a brother.”

“Billy, a baby brother isn’t something that Santa can
promise. A baby is a decision your parents must make. There’s a lot of
responsibility that comes with a baby and they require a lot of care.”

“Oh, I don’t want a baby brother. I want a big brother.”

“You don’t have any brothers or sisters?”

“No, my parents say it’s impossible to have any more kids.
They were lucky to get me, they say.”

“Over there on that bench.” Billy replied, pointing in the
direction his parents were sitting, waiting for him.

“Ahhh, I see. Tell me about you and your family, Billy.”

As Billy talked, Santa was nodding and smiling. Ignoring the
impatient looks he was getting from the other parents waiting in line with their
children, Santa talked with Billy for fifteen minutes. Finally, Santa said,
“Billy, I can’t make a promise to bring you a big brother or sister. But I will
promise you this: I’ll do all I can to try for you, okay?”

“Okay.”

“Would you go tell your parents I’d like to talk with them on
my next break? It’ll be in about ten minutes.”

“Sure, Santa,” and he climbed down and ran over to his
parents and gave them Santa’s message.

His parents looked towards Santa with a worried look on both
their faces and nodded yes. Their worried expressions softened a bit when they
saw a smile appear on Santa’s face and he gave them a friendly wave.

Billy sat on the bench between his parents and told them what
he’d asked for and what he and Santa had talked about.

“Billy,” his dad said, “We’ve talked about this before. We
know how much you’d like a brother and we would like another child…but I’m
afraid it’s just not possible.”

“But Santa promised he’d try.”

“And I’m sure he means well, Billy. But there are some things
even Santa can’t do.”

Billy looked up and saw Santa approaching their bench and
jumped up to run to meet him.

“Hi, Santa!”

“Hi, Billy. I could sure use a cup of coffee. Do you think
you could run over to the coffee stand and get me a cup while your parents and I
talk about some grownup stuff?” Fishing a five dollar bill from his pocket and
handing it to Billy, he said “And on your way back, stop at the frozen yogurt
stand and get yourself a cone, okay?” then turning to Billy’s parents, he said,
“Hi folks, good to see you again. Remember me?”

“No…I’m sorry, but I don’t believe I do.” Billy’s dad
replied.

As he walked towards the coffee shop, Billy thought to
himself how weird adults were. “How could anyone forget Santa?” he chuckled.

After he got Santa’s coffee and was standing in line for his
cone, he watched his parents and Santa talking. He turned to go back to them,
when he’d gotten his cone, and felt a sharp pain in his side. After a few
seconds the pain eased, and he thought he must have pulled a muscle sledding
today.

He reached his parents just as Santa was getting ready to
leave. “Ahhh, here’s my coffee. Thanks, Billy. You’ve become a very fine young
man and I can see why your parents are so proud of you. You’re lucky you have
such caring and loving parents.” Then looking at Billy’s parents, he continued,
“There’s a lot of children not nearly as lucky as you who would love to have a
family like yours.”

“Thanks Fr…uh, Santa,” Billy’s dad said, extending his hand
to shake with Santa, “we’ve thought a lot about this, and if it were just us, we
wouldn’t hesitate. We have to consider Billy though. He has enough on his plate
to handle without having to go through all that crap we had to.”

“I know, but remember what I said. Things change and I’ll
guarantee things will be different this time. Give me a call if you decide yes,
okay?”

“Okay, Santa, we’ll let you know our decision one way or
another. Come on, Billy. It’s time to get you home and in bed.”

“Aww, Dad…there’s no school, so why do I have to go to bed so
early? It’s Christmas vacation.” Billy whined.

“Because I said so and because a growing boy needs his rest.
Besides, you don’t want to argue with us in front of Santa Claus, do you?”

Grabbing a parent’s in each of his, Billy looked over his
shoulder and said, “Good-bye Santa. I have to go home and go to bed…and I never
argue with my dad!”

Santa gave Billy a wink and watched as the obviously happy
little family left the mall.

When he was climbing in bed to wait for his parents to come
tuck him in, Billy again felt the pain in his side. This time, however, it took
longer to go away, but Billy soon forgot about it as he thought about the great
day he’d had.

He heard a knock on his door and it opened and his dad walked
in.

“Ready for sleep, Tiger?” he asked.

“Yea…I feel really tired tonight.”

“Well, you’ve had a busy day, so that’s to be expected.”
Then, kissing his son on the forehead, he said, “Sleep good, Son…have happy
dreams.”

“Good night, Dad…Dad?”

“Yes?”

“I love you guys.”

“We love you too…now go to sleep.”

Billy lay in bed reliving the day, and the last thought he
had before falling asleep, was how much he wanted a brother and he wanted him to
be just like Bob.

A few hours later, Billy’s parents were lying in bed
discussing the evening’s events when they heard a sharp cry of pain from Billy’s
room. As they entered, they could see he was still asleep, but it was a fitful
sleep and his hair was wet from sweat. Feeling of his forehead they could tell
he had a high fever, “I’ll go get some children’s aspirin.”

“Okay…Billy…Billy…wake up, Son.”

“Is it morning?” Billy asked sleepily.

“No, Son…how do you feel?”

“My side hurts, Dad.”

“Where? Here?” he said placing his hand on Billy’s right
side.

“Yes, it hurts a lot.”

“Okay Tiger, here, take these aspirins and they’ll help your
pain and fever, we’ll be right back in…okay?”

“Okay, Dad.”

“What do you think?” his dad asked when they reached the
hall.

“His fever’s pretty high and he’s in a lot of pain. I think
we should take him to the emergency room.”

“Yea, I agree. I’ll get him dressed while you change; then
you can stay with him while I dress.”

“Don’t bother dressing him. His pajamas will be okay. Just
put some shoes and socks on him. He’s in too much pain to be disturbing him too
much.”

“Okay.”

A nurse saw them entering the emergency room doors and rushed
over to help them.

“Hi folks. What seems to be the problem?”

“Our son woke up with a high fever and says his side is
really hurting.”

“Awww,” the nurse said, as she felt Billy’s forehead and
pushed the strands of hair that were stuck there back into place, “not feeling
well, are we?”

“I don’t know how the rest of you feel, but I don’t feel very
good.” Billy replied.

Laughing, the nurse said, “Old joke, kiddo…you need some new
material. Let’s see what we can do to make you feel better.” Turning to Billy’s
parents, she said, “One of you need to stop at the desk and sign some papers. By
the time you’re finished, the doctor should be here and you both can wait in the
waiting room while the doctor examines your son. He’ll be out to talk with you
as soon as he’s finished with the examination.”

After what seemed like hours, they saw a man dressed in
hospital scrubs walking up to the reception desk. He stopped and talked to the
receptionist and she pointed towards them. He walked over to them.

“Are you Billy’s parents?” he asked.

“Yes.”

“Hi. I’m Dr. Wilson.” he said, extending his hand to shake
with both of them. “I’m sorry I took so long, but your son will be fine. I’m
sure he has appendicitis but we can’t be positive until the blood work I’ve
ordered comes back. There are a couple of problems that complicate matters
though. His fever is very high and we’ve given him medication that should lower
it in a few hours. We’d like to wait, if surgery is indicated, until the fever
is lower but in Billy’s case, I believe the appendix has ruptured. This
increases the danger of a later infection and so we would need to operate as
quickly as possible to reduce this risk. I’ve called the surgeon and he agrees
and is on his way in now.”

“Will it be dangerous to operate if his fever doesn’t come
down?”

“I’ll be honest with you: This is a common operation and
there are rarely complications. All operations, though, are serious and can
develop serious complications. The body is stressed by even minor surgery and a
body already stressed by fever or pain can respond in unexpected ways. I’m as
sure as I can be that due to Billy’s youth and good health, there will be no
serious problems. But understand that we can offer no promises. Some things are
beyond our control, and we can only do our best to insure that he has the best
possible care.”

“How soon will we know the test results?”

“Within a half hour; if the tests come back confirming our
beliefs, the surgeon will be here and we’ll operate as quickly as possible.
We’re keeping Billy here in the ER until we know for sure so, if you’d like, you
can stay in the cubicle with him. I’m sure he’d be more comfortable with his
parents with him.”

“Thank you, Dr. Wilson.” they said and went into the cubicle
with Billy.

About forty-five minutes later, a short, heavy-set man came
into the room and introduced himself as Dr. Allen. “Hi, Billy,” he said, “has
Dr. Wilson told you what’s going on?” Billy nodded, so the doctor continued,
“I’m going to be the doctor that does the operation. I’m going to look you over
and then in a few minutes, a nurse will get you ready. She’ll help you get into
a gown and then will wash your belly. She’s going to put some pink stuff over
the part we need to cut to get the bad stuff out of you. Then she’ll give you a
shot to make you very relaxed and sleepy. The next thing you’ll know is waking
up in a recovery room with your parents. After we make sure you’re the way
you’re supposed to be, we’ll give you another shot that will help you go back
into a normal sleep and when you wake up later today, you should be feeling a
whole lot better. Do you have any questions you’d like to ask me?”

Billy shook his head no, but his dad spoke up, “I have a
question, Dr. Allen. How long will Billy be in the hospital?”

“Normally, it’s about three days with an appendectomy. But
if, as we think, Billy’s appendix has ruptured, we’ll need to keep him about
seven days.”

“But Christmas is in five days!” Billy interjected.

“I know, Billy, but you’ll be able to celebrate Christmas a
little late this year. That way we can be sure you’ll have a lot more
Christmases to enjoy.”

“Why such a longer stay if his appendix is ruptured?” Billy’s
dad asked.

The doctor looked at Billy’s dad, shook his head and said,
“I’ll go tell the nurse you’re ready and then I need to talk to your parents
while she’s prepping you, okay Billy?”

“Okay.”

Out in the hall, the doctor said to Billy’s parents, “I’m
sorry but I didn’t want to alarm Billy and I don’t want to alarm you now. If the
appendix has ruptured, then there’s a greater danger of an internal infection
developing. These infections are very serious and if not caught right away, can
sometimes be fatal within hours. We need to monitor him on an hourly basis and
then we can start treatment at the first sign of infection, should one
begin.”

“How likely is an infection?”

“Not very likely at all, but in the unlikely event an
infection does occur, we need to be on top of it as soon as possible. As soon as
the nurse finishes in there, you can go back in and stay with him until the
orderly comes to take him up to the operating room. Don’t expect him to talk
much after the shot she’ll give him; he’ll be very groggy, but it will be a
reassurance to him, knowing you two are there. I’m going up now and as soon as
the surgery is done, I’ll be out to see you in the surgery waiting room to let
you know how things went.”

A short while later, they stood in the hall watching as their
sleeping son was wheeled to the elevator and taken up to the operating suite.
They then went to the visitors’ elevators and rode up to the surgery floor to
begin their vigil as their only child had surgery.

Waiting in a hospital waiting room while your child’s life is
literally in someone else’s hands is one of the hardest things a parent will
ever experience. It had been a little over two hours, and Billy’s parents were
beginning to worry that something had gone wrong. They would pace for awhile and
then sit and stare at the doors to the operating suite, as if they could force
the doors to open by sheer willpower, and someone would come through to tell
them everything was okay…that Billy would be fine. Eventually, the double doors
did open, and the broad smile on the face of Dr. Allen eased their fears.

“Everything’s looking good.” he said as he reached them,
“Billy handled it like a trooper and is in the recovery room now. You’ll be
allowed in to see him shortly. The appendix had burst, so it took us a little
longer than normal to clean out the mess, but we flushed several times and are
sure we got it all.”

“That’s such a relief. Thank you so much, Dr. Allen.” Billy’s
dad said.

“It’s going to be a few minutes before you can go see him and
there’s something else I’d like to talk about with you, if you don’t mind. As
you can see, I’m not a very big person. When I first saw Billy in the emergency
room, I assumed he was about six years old. A few minutes ago while writing in
his chart, I noticed that he is actually nine and a half.”

“Yes, he’s always been small. Even as a baby he was
tiny.”

“Does his small size bother him?”

“Yes…he has no friends and even though he doesn’t complain,
we’ve heard other kids teasing him.”

Taking a card from his pocket, he handed it to them, “This is
a friend of mine who specializes in hormone therapy. They’re doing great things
to help kids like Billy these days. I don’t know if he can help Billy reach a
more normal size or not, but it would be worth a shot.” Then, standing, he said,
“Come on, let’s go see that kid of yours.”

“Don’t be shocked by his appearance.” the doctor said, as
they entered the recovery room. “The paleness and gaunt look are side effects of
the anesthesia and will wear off in hours. Believe me, Billy’s doing great. So
good, in fact, we’re not giving him anything to cause him to sleep. His body is
trying, on its own, to fall into a natural sleep, so we’re just going to keep
our eyes on him and only medicate him if needed.”

“Hey, Champ…wake up. Your parents are here to see you.”

Billy was only able to open his eyes a little, but smiled
when he saw his parents there.

“Hi,” he said.

“Hi, Tiger. How’re you feeling?”

“Tired.”

“Well, go to sleep and get some rest. We’ll see you when you
wake up. We love you, Son.”

“I love you too.” Billy barely managed to get out before
falling back asleep.

“They have a room for him on the pediatric ward and will be
moving him down there shortly.” the doctor said. “The nurse can tell you the
room number. Why don’t you go to the cafeteria and have some breakfast and give
them a half hour to get him moved and settled in? You can come up to see him for
a few minutes, and then I suggest the two of you go home and get some sleep. It
will probably be noon or later before he wakes up and there’s nothing you can do
here until then. You both look worse than Billy right now!” the doctor
chuckled.

Taking the doctor’s advice they went to eat a light breakfast
and then went to locate the room number the nurse had given them. Finding Billy
safely in his new room and sound asleep, the two went home to get some rest.
After showering, they decided that they wouldn’t be able to sleep, so they
returned to the hospital so they’d be sure to be there when their son awoke.

As they entered the room they could hear what sounded like a
boy crying, and a man’s smoothing voice trying to comfort him. They quickly
checked on Billy and, so as not to intrude, started to go wait in the hall until
the man and boy were finished talking. They couldn’t help but overhear the boy
ask if he had to go back there, and the man replied, “No, Bob…I’m not sure what
we’ll be able to do just yet. We just don’t have an available place for you yet,
but we’ll work something out. You’ll never have to go back there again.”

Before they could leave the room, they heard the man tell the
boy he had some business to take care of, but would be back to see him later
that afternoon. As the man walked around the curtain all three were surprised,
“What are you folks doing here?” the man asked.

“Well, if it isn’t Santa Claus!” Billy’s dad said. “We could
ask you the same thing.” he laughed. Billy had an emergency appendectomy last
night.”

“It’s only Santa at night.” the man laughed, “During the day,
I’m just mild-mannered Fred Barnett, your trustworthy public servant. Is
everything okay?”

“Yes, if the lazy kid ever gets tired of sleeping and wakes up.”

“One of our boys had an accident yesterday afternoon, and we
just found out about it this morning.” Fred said with a hint of anger in his
voice.

“Is he going to be alright?”

“He had a compound fracture of both lower bones in his right
leg. They had to do surgery to set the bones. He’ll be laid up in here about a
week until the incision heals enough to put a full cast on.”

“How did it happen?”

“He’d been sledding at the park, and when he came back to the
group home, his foster father made him go back out to clean the sidewalks. He
apparently fell and broke his leg then.”

“Billy was sledding at the park yesterday and met a kid named
Bob. Could this be the same boy?”

“Must be…he said he was at the park with his friend
Billy.”

“What’s this about not wanting to go back somewhere?”

Fred held his finger to his lips and said, “Why don’t you buy
me a cup of coffee and we can talk a bit. I seem to remember a cup of coffee
costing me five dollars last night.”

“I guess we do kind of owe you one.” Billy’s dad laughed.
Then, checking that Billy was still asleep, the three headed downstairs.

Through a haze, Billy was sure he had heard Santa Claus
talking to his friend, Bob, and then heard his parents talking to Santa. He
opened his eyes and looked around, but no one was there, so he went back to
sleep, thinking he must have been dreaming.

After the three had gotten their coffee and found a table,
Fred asked, “So…have you given any thought to what we were talking about last
night?”

“Actually, quite a bit of thought. We had plenty of time on
our hands last night to talk about it. We haven’t decided one way or the other,
but we are leaning in your direction.”

“Any chance there’s something I could say to push you the
rest of the way to my side?” he laughed.

“We can only promise we’ll keep thinking,” his dad laughed in
reply. Then, with a more serious look on his face, he asked, “What’s the story
with Bob? He seemed like a nice boy when we met him yesterday.”

“He is, but he’s had a tough life. Not even his mother had
any idea who his father is. He was born to a drug addict mother and came into
the system when he was two. His mom died of an overdose a year later, and he’s
been in and out of different foster homes ever since. Now he’s at the age when
it’s hard to place children, and has been in this group home for almost a
year.”

“He was told to clear the sidewalks at his home yesterday
morning but forgot, as kids tend to do, and by the time he returned from the
park, they were icy and treacherous. His foster father ordered him out to get
rid of the ice, and sometime later he fell and broke his leg. The neighbor lady
came home from work and saw him laying in the snow and thought he was playing,
but when she came out about an hour and a half later he was still laying in the
same position. She went over to see if he was okay and saw the blood. She tried
getting someone to answer the door but no one did. She ran home and called 911,
and in a few minutes the ambulance, as well as the police, were there. The
police were finally able to get someone to answer the door, and were told they
didn’t answer before because they were eating and didn’t want to be disturbed at
meal time. I called the police and am having a copy of the report sent over to
me. This home has been on the margins for a while now, but as short of foster
homes as we are, we’ve been forced to turn our heads to minor infractions.”

“We wouldn’t have found out about this at all, if the
hospital hadn’t called us for insurance information. When they called him, he
told them that Bob was the state’s responsibility and we were the one that had
to pay. That’s true in the case of illness, but each foster home is required to
carry a homeowner’s policy that covers liability in case of accident.”

“Neither Mr. or Mrs. Munro would ride to the hospital with
Bob, and as far as I’ve been able to find out, neither has been to see him or
even call to see if he’ll be okay.”

“Sounds like wonderful people! So the state may have to pay
the hospital bills?”

“We’ll be able to recover the money but it will take time.
These kind of people know how to play the system.”

“You know…” Billy’s father said, “I’m glad Bob asked for our
help…. At least, I think I heard him ask us to represent him. How about you,
Babe? Did you hear it too?”

“Oh yes, it was a definite plea for help.”

“How about you, Fred?”

“Are you going after the Munros or the department?”

“The Munros. Definitely!”

“Then I heard it too.”

“If you’ll give me their telephone number, you can watch how
we make our money.” Billy’s dad laughed as he took out his cell phone.

“ I believe so. My name is Paul Thornton of the law firm of
Thornton and Thornton. I’m calling in regards to an accident on your property
that injured a minor child named Robert Jefferson. We have been asked to
represent this minor child in a recovery of damages suit against you and your
husband.”

“Against us? We had nothing to do with his accident.”

“I’m afraid the law disagrees, Mrs. Munro. The accident
occurred on your property and was caused by your negligence in allowing the ice
to build up on your sidewalk.”

“It wasn’t our negligence. The boy had been told earlier to
clear the walk. It’s not our fault he didn’t do it and hurt himself after it got
worse.”

“In the eyes of the law, it is the adult that is responsible
for the safety and well being of children under their care. In addition to
damages for the physical harm suffered by our client, we are prepared to pursue
damages for the verbal and other abuses our client claims and also for pain and
suffering due to your obvious neglect in not checking on the boy while he was at
work on the sidewalk. We understand from the police report that you couldn’t be
bothered because you didn’t want to be disturbed at dinner. This young man lay
on your sidewalk for at least one and a half hours with a compound fracture,
bleeding and barely conscious, according to a witness. But you couldn’t be
bothered to check on him when he didn’t show up to eat? This borders on child
endangerment – a very serious charge I’m sure the department of children and
family services will be looking into.”

“We contacted the hospital and were told you refused to turn
over insurance information and refused to come in to sign financial
responsibility forms. We then contacted Mr. Fred Barnett of DCFS and requested
the information from him. He was quite surprised that a child in the system had
been injured so severely and the people responsible for this child’s care had
not notified his department. We will be filing suit within the next few days. It
would be in your best interests to talk to an attorney and notify your insurance
company. We will be demanding receipts and proof from you that you were spending
the money paid to you by the state on this child and not on personal expenses.
I’m sure the DCFS will also be requesting this information from you.”

“This is ridiculous! When Robert comes home, we’ll talk to
him and get this all straightened out.”

“I’m afraid that won’t be possible, Mrs. Munro. Robert has
expressed a wish he not be returned to your care, and we have been assured by
Mr. Barnett that he will not be. We further will request that, should you or
your attorney wish to speak to Robert, it will only be with a representative
from both our office and the DCFS present.”

“Our office telephone number is 555-2323. It would behoove
you to have a representative of your insurance company contact us as soon as
possible.”

“Goodbye, Mrs. Munro.”

“Very impressive!” Fred laughed, “But do you think it will
accomplish anything?”

“Oh, yes. We deal with people like this a lot, and I know how
they think. At this very minute, she’s trying to contact her husband or if he’s
home and they have an attorney, They’re trying to reach him. He’s going to tell
them to get down to the hospital and give the hospital the information it needs,
and then to contact their insurance company and inform them of the accident and
our involvement. Then, if possible, to make an attempt to visit Bob, so if it
goes to court they can show what wonderful foster parents they are. They
actually tried to visit him and it wasn’t even twenty-four hours after the
accident.”

“How do you know that’s what they’ll do?”

“Slime like these people are always trying to cover their
backs…they nearly always have good attorneys. We know what the attorney will
have them do because that’s what we’d advise our client to do. Now what you need
to do is have the hospital red flag Bob’s visitors, so they won’t be able to get
to him and coerce him into covering for them.”

“Good idea. I’ll take care of that right now, and then I have
some other things to take care of. Would you let Bob know that I’ll be back to
see how he’s doing this afternoon?”

“Sure. I think we’ll pick up a couple donuts and hot
chocolate to take back up to Bob. I’ll have to check with the nurse though,
before we can get a snack for Billy.”

When they got back to the boys’ room they could hear laughter
coming from inside. It sounded like Billy was awake and feeling pretty good.

“Come on, guys…keep it down to a dull roar,” they laughed as
they walked in.

Billy’s eyes widened and a huge grin split his face when he
saw them, “Hi! Look who’s in the room with me!”

“Yea, we see. Bob must be a pretty good friend to go break
his leg, just so he could keep you company in the hospital,” his dad
laughed.

With a look of shock, Billy turned to Bob, “Did you really?”
he asked.

His parents noticed that the nickname, “Twerp,” didn’t seem
to bother Billy at all, and it obviously was said with affection and no
animosity on Bob’s part.

“We brought Bob up a couple donuts and a hot chocolate, but
we’re going to have to check with the nurse before we get you something, Billy.
We’re not sure what kind of diet you’re on, and don’t want to give you something
you’re not supposed to have.”

“Coming right up, your majesty,” his dad laughed. On the way
to the cafeteria, he passed the information desk and saw an agitated, heavyset
woman arguing with the receptionist.

“But he’s our foster son. I have the right to visit him.”

“I’m sorry, ma’am, but he has a restricted visitor list and
you’re not allowed to visit. I suggest you take it up with the DCFS; they’re the
ones who restricted his visitors.”

“This just isn’t right. You’ll be hearing from our attorney!”
the lady said angrily, and turned and walked away.

“Right on schedule,” Billy’s dad chuckled to himself and
continued on his way to the cafeteria.

When he returned to the room, he told his mate about the
woman and they both had a good laugh.

“What’s so funny?” Billy asked. So they told him and Bob
about their conversation with Bob’s foster mom earlier that day.

“You mean I really don’t have to go back there?”

“No, Bob, Mr. Barnett assured us that you never have to go
back. As a matter of fact, I believe he’s sending someone over there this
afternoon to retrieve your clothes and personal belongings.”

“Did you mean what you said about helping me?”

“If we didn’t mean it, we wouldn’t have said it, Bob.”

“But why? You don’t know me.”

“We know that you’re our son’s friend, and we also know that
no child should be treated the way you’ve been. We are on your side and intend
to do all we can to see that life’s better for you from now on.”

“No one’s ever worried about me before.” Bob replied
tearfully.

“You have the three of us that care about you, and we know
for a fact Mr. Barnett does.”

“Someone mentioning my name?” Mr. Barnett said, as he entered
the room followed by a nurse and an aide.

He turned to Billy and asked how he was feeling, and Billy
was sure that he should know this man but couldn’t place him. “Fine, sir,” he
replied to the man’s question.

“That’s great, Billy. Now I have a favor to ask you. There’s
going to be a man here shortly that needs to talk to your roommate in private.
We can’t move his bed, because the doctor’s afraid of hurting his leg, since he
only has a temporary cast. Would you mind if we moved your bed into the hall
until they’ve had their chat?”

“No, I don’t mind.”

“Thank you, Billy.” Then, turning to Billy’s parents, he
said, “Dr. Allen has assured me that there’s no danger to Billy by moving him
into the hall. Have you talked to Bob about representing him?”

“Yes. We’re officially Bob’s attorneys now.”

“Good. One of you might want to be in the room with Bob,
then. Don’t worry, Bob, You’ve done nothing wrong and you have nothing to worry
about. We just want all our bases covered.”

They had moved Billy’s bed into the hall and were making him
comfortable, when Fred Barnett looked up and said, “Here comes the detective
now.”

Billy’s dad’s eyebrows shot up. “Detective?” he asked.

“Yes. Some of the things you said this morning, coupled with
what Billy had told me earlier, made me think that this was a case that the
police should be involved in.”

As the detective neared the room, he saw the two men standing
by a bed in the hall and approached them. “Hi, Fred…we’re going to have to stop
meeting like this,” he said with a smile.

“Unless human nature changes, I’m afraid we’ll meet like this
for quite a while. Do you know Paul Thornton? His firm is representing the boy
in this matter.”

“Yes, we’ve met several times. How are you, counselor?”

“I’m fine, Tony. How’s that family of yours doing?”

“Just great. It makes me wish Christmas was a week away every
day of the year. It’s amazing how well behaved kids get in the week before
Christmas.” Then turning to Billy he said, “You must be a very special boy if
one of the top law firms in the city is representing you.”

Billy’s eyes got wide and he said, “You’re not going to
arrest me are you?”

The men all laughed and then Billy’s dad said, “He is a very
special boy, but the boy you’re here to interview is in the room with my
partner. This is our son, Billy. He’s Bob’s friend and that’s how we became
involved.”

“It sounds like Bob is a very lucky young man to have a good
friend like you, Billy. And you’re a very lucky young man to have parents that
are willing to help your friend; most people just don’t want to get involved. I
suppose, as long as things are okay in their lives, they can pretend to not see
things that might upset them. This world might be a whole lot better place if
people were to see some of the things Fred and I see everyday. It might make
them want to get involved.”

“Well, I have an interview to do; nice seeing you again
Paul.” Then turning to Billy, he said, “You get well soon, Billy. These parents
of yours need someone to watch over them and keep them out of trouble. Fred,
I’ll talk to you after the interview and we’ll decide where to go from there.”
Then he entered the room for the interview.

The nurse walked up as the detective was leaving, and told
the men she needed to get Billy up walking around a little bit, so he wouldn’t
get too stiff and sore from lying in bed.

“I can’t!” Billy said with fear in his voice.

“Sure you can, son…if you don’t start moving around as soon
as possible, you’ll be even more sore when you do.”

“It’s not that, Dad.” Then he crooked his finger for his dad
to bend down. “I got no underwear, and this thing doesn’t have a back!!” he
whispered.

His father stood up laughing and explained the situation to
the nurse. She said they could put the pajamas on him that he was wearing when
he was admitted if they were in his room. She knocked and opened the door and
excused herself as soon as she had retrieved the pajamas.

Billy’s dad and Fred could see the detective sitting by the
bed, and Billy’s other parent holding Bob as they were both crying. “Well…looks
like we just fell all the way over to your side Fred.” Billy’s dad said. “I
guess we need to go over the details while Billy’s getting some exercise.”

“Glad to hear that, Paul. I don’t suppose you have anyone
particular in mind?” he asked with a grin.

“Maybe,” Paul said with a grin of his own. “Let’s go down to
the solarium and we can talk about it.”

“I have a better idea…. There are two boys who need the bare
necessities covered and there’s a Wal-Mart a couple blocks down. We can talk on
our way over there and bring them back some pajamas and underwear.”

“Sounds like a plan.” And the two men headed out on their
mission of mercy.

“By the way,” Fred said as they were waiting for the
elevator, “I had a hunch things would turn out this way, and took the liberty of
checking and updating your files this morning. You’re already approved for
emergency placements and after a couple home visits and interviews, permanent
placement will be a formality. If you wish to go for an adoption, there will be
a six month ‘getting to know each other’ period, and then you can file for
adoption.”

“Pretty sure of yourself, weren’t you?”

“Let’s just say I have good instincts.”

When they got back to the boys’ room, both boys were back in
their beds and were watching cartoons on TV. “Where is everyone?” Billy’s dad
asked.

“In the cafeteria. They said for you to meet them down
there,” Billy answered, his eyes never leaving the screen.

“Okay; we’ll be back in a bit.”

“Dad?”

“Yes?”

“Hot chocolate!” both boys said at the same time. Laughing,
the two men headed out the door and were barely in the hallway when they heard,
“With marshmallows!!” followed by the giggles of the two boys.

They found the other two sitting at a table, drinking coffee
and talking.

“How’d it go?” Fred asked the detective.

“That’s a good kid there, Fred. There’s definitely a case.
What he told me confirmed what the neighbors had told me earlier. My
recommendation is to have the other foster children removed as soon as
possible.”

“I’ll call the office and have someone out there within the
hour. Can you call and arrange a squad car standing by, in case there’s any
trouble?”

“Better than that, give me a time and I’ll be there
personally. I think it’s time for me to talk to the Munros personally.”

“Give me a minute to make the call and I’ll ride over with
you, if you don’t mind.” Turning to Billy’s parents, he said, “You folks have a
decision to make and then a boy to talk to. We have no place for Bob. The other
kids, we can place in homes immediately, but boys his age are hard to place. No
one seems to want boys over ten. If you folks won’t take him, I don’t know what
we’ll do with him.”

“We’ll take him.” both parents responded immediately.

“Then why don’t you two go talk to him while we’re taking
care of these other things? This needs to be his decision too. Don’t ask him to
make the decision tonight. Let him consider it and give you his answer in the
morning…and don’t forget Billy. Remember he should also have a voice in this
matter. It’ll be a big change in your household and will affect him too. I have
a feeling, though, one of you will need to be sitting on Billy when you talk.
He’ll be so excited that he’ll start bouncing up and down and pull out his
stitches!” he laughed.

As he and the detective were leaving, he said, over his
shoulder, “Don’t forget: hot chocolate…with marshmallows!”

They got four hot chocolates, and when they got back to the
room, they told the boys they wanted to talk to them. They explained what was
going on and told them they had arranged for Bob to go home with them when he
was released from the hospital, if he wanted to. They stressed the point that
this was something the boys should think about tonight and talk over between
themselves, and they could all discuss it further when they returned the next
day for regular visiting hours.

The next morning, after a good night’s sleep, they met Fred
Barnett as he was leaving the boys’ room. “Hi,” he said, “you have a couple boys
in there chomping at the bit waiting for you to arrive. I had a little talk with
Bob this morning. I assured him that you were for real, and that if, after a few
weeks, he thought it was a mistake, then we’d look for another placement for
him. I think he’s made his decision and I’m sure this will be a good placement.
You have a lot to offer him and he has a lot to offer in return. It’s about time
that something good happens in his life, and I believe you two and Billy are
that something good.”

Noticing the two cups in their hands, he said, “I hope you
remembered the marshmallows this morning. I was told you forgot them last
night.”

“Not our fault,” Billy’s father laughed, pulling a bag of
marshmallows out of his overcoat pocket, “the hospital cafeteria doesn’t have
marshmallows, so we brought them their own private supply.”

“Good thinking! Bribe them with sweets.” Fred laughed. “I
won’t be around for the next few days. I have a lot of paperwork to get done and
approved, so a certain boy can have a home when he’s released. The next few days
would be a good time for all of you to get acquainted .”

“Yea, we were thinking the same thing.”

They walked into the boys’ room and found them both lying in
Bob’s bed, with the head cranked up, watching cartoons. When Billy saw them, he
gingerly got out of the bed and came and gave each a hug. Spying the cups, he
asked, “Hot chocolate?”

“Yes,” his dad said, then reaching for the bag in his pocket,
said, “with marshmallows!”

“Alright!” both boys responded with enthusiasm.

After they finished the cartoon they were watching and the
hot chocolate was gone, Billy’s dad said, “Guys…we need to talk more about what
we said last night. I want you to wait until we say a few things to each of you,
before you give us your answers.”

“You first, Billy. For over nine years, you have been our
only child. As our only child, you had all our attention and love. If Bob joins
our family, he will be our son too and you will have to share our time and love.
There will be times when you’ll be jealous of the attention we show him. This is
normal, even among blood-related brothers, and is something you’ll have to deal
with. Remember that just because we love Bob, doesn’t mean that we love you any
less.”

“And you, Bob, You’ll be joining an established family and
you’ll feel left out sometimes and won’t be sure what your place in our family
is. You must understand that we, as a family, will have memories of good times
before you joined our family. We can’t be expected to forget our past, but we
will be making new memories with you as a family member.”

“Another thing to remember is that you will be our son just
as much as Billy. If you misbehave, you will be punished the same as we punish
Billy. If you need a hug, you’ll get a hug the same as we would give one to
Billy. If you need someone to talk to, one or both of us will be there to
listen. In our hearts, there will be no difference between the two of you, and
if you ever feel we’re giving preferential treatment to him, you must tell us
so. We would never do it intentionally, but old habits are hard to break, and if
we’re in the wrong, we’ll do our utmost to correct it.”

“It won’t be easy, but as long as we all remember that our
family is based on the love we hold for each other, it won’t be that hard an
adjustment to make either.”

“Have you guys been thinking about this and made your
decisions?”

“Yes,” Billy said, “I want Bob to be my brother.”

“What about you, Bob?”

“Can I ask you a question, first?”

“Of course.”

“Do you love me or feel sorry for me?”

Both parents looked at each other, and then Billy’s father
answered, “Bob…we love you for the boy you are now. Not because we feel sorry
for you but because, in spite of what you’ve been through you have still become
a loving and kind young man. We’d be lying to you if we said we didn’t feel
sorry for you, but we feel sorry for Billy too. We know what he has to go
through because of his size and other things, but that in no way diminishes the
love we feel for him. There’s nothing any of us can do about the things that
have happened to us in the past, but we can have some control over our future.
We love you now and we’ll love you even more as time passes. That’s the way
families work.”

“I think I want to be part of your family, then.”

“Welcome to the family…son.” Then both parents and boys were
in a group hug.

And they did become a real family and enjoyed many
Christmases together. At first, just the four of them but, over the years, with
some of the several foster children that they took in – some for only a short
time until their families could get their lives back in order, and still others
that moved on to other foster homes or into the adoption program. Later, there
were girlfriends and eventually daughters-in-law and grandchildren.

The Munros were charged with child abuse and neglect but,
because they had two children of their own at home who didn’t seem to be
mistreated, they were able to make a deal with the prosecution, and were
required to return to the state part of the money they had been paid for the
support of the foster children in their care. In addition, they were permanently
barred from ever applying to become foster caregivers again, and each received
two years’ supervised probation.

Bob graduated from law school and was married to a wonderful
girl and they had four children. He was just recently made a partner in his
parents’ firm and has comfortably settled into life with his own family.

Billy underwent hormone therapy and was nearly the size of
his classmates within a couple of years. He continued this therapy through high
school and only stopped when he reached the height he thought he could be
comfortable with. Having no interest in the law, and with his parents’
blessings, he became a high school teacher and was employed in a nearby town.
He, too, was a proud father and he and his wife had three children of their
own.

With the aid and encouragement of Santa Claus, whose
non-Christmas job was Director of the county Department of Children and Family
Services, they had become the family each had always yearned for, and if you
were to ask them, each would say the best Christmas ever was that Christmas
spent in that small hospital room. That Christmas at which they became a real
family – a diminutive Caucasian-Asian nine year old, an eleven year old
African-American boy and their two very happy, and very white, fathers.

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE!!!!!

I’d like to give a special
thank you to Blue for editing this story for me. In the two years I’ve been
online, I’ve met some very good people and some very bad people. Unfortunately,
the very bad seem to far outnumber the good. Blue, however makes up for a lot of
the bad with his good heart and his patience with a beginner like I am.

As with all English majors,
though, you have to be careful around him. He can call you simple and stupid in
a thousand ways while convincing you it’s a compliment. Blue took a raw piece
and made it into a finished piece, however, he won’t return all those commas and
ellipses he removed from my story. He told me people who mistreat punctuation
marks as I do, have no business having any.

He took my poor commas and
ellipses and hid them away with the to, too and twos he took away from me last
spring. They’re mine and I want them back. I don’t want those tame commas,
ellipses, to, too and twos released into the wilds of Texas. They were bred in
captivity and will be unable to survive on their own.

Those commas need me and I
need them. How will I ever write again if I don’t have enough commas to put one
after every third word? How will I be able to grow my word count without
ellipses to boost the count? He can keep the to, too and twos though, they’re a
pain in the neck...so formal and strict with their “you have to follow the
rules” mentality.

Seriously though, Thanks, Blue.

Thank you, Codey. You’re never simple or stupid; more like the opposite.

Happy Holidays! May love
and friendship renew us all, rebuild us each, and reconnect us together, as
friends, families, and communities.